Do real men use torque wrenches?

Obviously circumstances come into it, I mean if you're rebuilding a fighter plane, or replacing a head gasket then fair enough, but I believe that real men don't use torque wrenches, whereas many of my crybaby friends think it's actually OK (or worse – essential) to use one to do up a flimsy little bolt on a bicycle.

Thoughts?

only on me mx bike

I agree. Never used a torque wrench.

Just something else to sell folk that they don't really need.

1st time no. 2nd time after you cracked it the 1st time yes.

but generally no.

No. Unless something must be done up to a particularly low setting for some reason, then tight enough to shear & back off 1/4 turn is normally good enough for me.

tight enough to shear & back off 1/4 turn

How do you manage that?

Nope, not in 20 years doing all my own fettling. (+ a few more as a motor mechanic)

tight enough to shear & back off 1/4 turn

How do you manage that?

Years of practice.

It was more the repairing of the threads…

Tractor = yes
Bike = naaaahhhh

here's how I gauge it;

I see what you did there, and like the serious answers! 😉

Do real torque wrenches cry?

No. You'd only need one if you were using fancy lightweight carbon bits, in which case you're not a real man anyway.

I don't need one myself. If bits start falling off my bike out on the trail then I'll maybe consider one, but that hasn't happened yet. I bought one to try and sort out a persistently creaking bb one time – it was useless, but it was good to see how it works.

Probably a good idea to have one if you work in a LBS just for general arse-covering. Not that you'd actually use it, but it could at least be brandished in cases of torque dispute.

Use one a lot for the mx bike as I kept shearing bolts (little things like gear oil inspection bolt, large engine inspection bolt which was made out of a very flimsy metal), although some of the torques in the manual seemed a little off like 128Nm for one particular bolt. I would for things like pivot bolts and linkage bolts on the MTB but I no longer have a full suss hence don't use them much on the hardtail. I usually go on size, the bigger the bolt the more torque it needs but that didn't work on my mx bike.

Iain

I got one recently as more and more stuff comes with torque ratings. They are very useful for finding out how tight something can be done up to feel solid in the shed but be loose when used in the real world.

Who needs a torque wrench when you have a spanner and the "one, two, three, four knuckles, then a grunt" method of gauging how tight something is.

It worked for me when I rebuilt the engine on my Omega MV6

I got one when I got my carbon road bike with torque ratings all over it, but got by fairly happily without it for years on my other bikes. That said mine (a Giant one, about £50) was reasonably cheap given the potential cost/hassle of broken bits so a worthwhile investment I think.

Who needs a torque wrench when you have a spanner and the "one, two, three, four knuckles, then a grunt" method of gauging how tight something is.

Wossat then?

If your incapable of tightening something up without stripping the threads or leaving it so loose its gonna fall off, then yes a torque wrench is a good idea. But then im also capable of wielding a hammer (including installing King headsets *SHOCK*) without breaking anything so maybe im special?

I was fine not using one until I got a stuck bolt on my Thomson stem – my sensing ability failed me but I blame Thomson's over engineering as needs to be less tight than you might think…anyway happy now that I have one.

I've got, and use, a Park one, less to go wrong. I don't worry too much about torques, mainly on the carbon bars, setting the BB and cranks… Is this just a testosterone-fuelled "let's start another debate"? 😀

I'm constructing a zenn diagram, with subsets of men that cry, sit down to wee, and use torque wrenches 😉

"maybe im special?"

Or just lucky? So far.

zenn diagram

What's that then? Buddhist maths?

Ooops! 🙂

Depends on the application doesn't it? I'll use one doing up a cylinder head, would be silly not to. Equally you'd need to be a bit of a fanny to need one to do up, say, your stem bolts.

I was going to get one as my bike has torque ratings written all over it – saves the hassle of wondering if a bolt should merely be nipped up, tight or murdered.

Surprisingly my HT2 XT cranks that I thought were on tight enough and have never worked loose had a little more tightening in them when a mate of mine was test driving his new torque wrench.

Professional engineers invented torque wrenches for a reason. Professionals use them. A real man has a real tool kit at home, therefore he will have (at least one) torque wrench. And use it.

Traditionally, for aluminiumnium tighten a bolt till you fart, for steel tighten till you sh1t.

Looks like I'm the only one to take this thread as a p*** take of *this* thread! 🙂

The only time I have use a torque wrench in 25 years of various mechanical fettling was the cylinder head bolts on my Mk1 escort.

Also, they are a waste of time unless they are calibrated regularly.

If you don't know how tight is right for say a stem bolt, you shouldn't be touching it anyway. Its all about mechanical sympathy.

left hand/foot tight
everything + 6 foot scaffold bar to get it off

Depends what I'm doing. If I'm tightening up a common or garden bolt, no. If I'm tightening up, say, a cylinder head stud, then yep. I think some people are a danger with them, they set the wrench and then just switch off their brain so if something's not right- set wrong, not working properly- they just lean on the wrench til something snaps. A mate of mine brought his motorbike to me for a fork service, I discovered 2 of the 6 bolts that hold the forks on weren't fully done up. One was threaded, one had a load of crap in the thread so both had "torqued up" prematurely and because he got hte click, he "knew" it was right. Lucky boy.

I was a bit disturbed when I was wheeled into the operating theatre and saw they were going to use a Draper Expert torque wrench to fit the bolts in my leg. Hold the surgery, I'll get my dad to run in with my Teng one!

LOL @ northwind. Surely snap on?

Nah, I like Teng. Though I suppose I'd need to check what the recommended torque is for M10 bolts in bone first! (flicks through Haynes Manual: Human)

meh! Torque settings are like sell by dates. They're just covering someone's arse. I have my own set of settings in my head. No torque wrench can compete with those.

I think allen key manufacturers should make the keys with little spikes on them. That way you just press as hard as you can on the key until it hurts and then you stop.

Obviously cranks go on as tight as a real man can get them on with some scaffolding pole.

I use one as I find I'm very heavy handed{truck mechanic by day}

I use one where I feel it is appropriate, such as the crank arm on a HT2 set. The torque setting is there for a reason, too tight and youll stretch and miss-shape the bore for the axle and no amount of tightening later will achive the same fit as if you had just done it right the first time.

Never used one but I like to think it's years of practice and fettling that gets it right – I suspect it isn't anything like that but it's a nice way of thinking about it. My mate got one and got rather mental about it's use…I didn't bother and just kept using my 'feel' – I think I got a few bolts pretty much spot on and other pretty much way off – but they never worked loose or failed.

Saying that, I've just bought a toolkit from Pedros (money spent from inheritance as a way to remember my grandad – many tools will never be used but it's the sentiment rather than the need that made me buy it) – anyway, it came with 2 torque wrenches – a Pro torque and a Demi torque – got no idea how they work or how to adjust them but they look seriously cool – I'll give them a bash but doubt they will get used regularly, however I'm sure when it comes to boredom and taking things apart and rebuilding they will get used more.

As someone else said, if using fancy carbon stuff I'd consider them more as a tool rather than a toy, but personally I haven't needed them yet.

not sure how often i use it but i do own one

i think you'll find that a real man NEVER turns down the opportunity to own a tool whether necessary or not